Paul McCartney Quotes

I get nervous before every shoot. I'm really jealous of the people that can just rest on their laurels and say, 'I'm good; this is it.'

I have been that actor who's watched peers and thought, 'God, they're doing well. I'll never get there.'

I still believe that at any time the no-talent police will come and arrest me.

I'd seen musicians act, and it scares me. And they make more money than me.

For a long time I managed to think two things simultaneously, that I am actually a good playwright, and that the next time I write a play I will be revealed as someone who is no good at all.

Part of me feels that I'm letting people down by not being as interesting as my books.

It's one of those things where if I do a movie, I don't even know if I'm any good. So, I may do one and it sucks and I'm a horrible actor, and I'll never do another one.

But I'm guessing every actor is insecure.

I always get nervous when I watch what I'm in. Very self-critical.

I've always been a bit of a self-doubter. I think a lot of actors are.

As far as I can tell, most actors' main motivation is self-doubt and neuroses.

I can't watch myself on screen without dying a little bit inside. And there are lots of moments when I think, 'What am I doing as an actor? I can't act!'

Most actors on most days don't think they're worthy.

Like everybody in show business, you think you're going to wake up one day, and it's all going to be taken away from you. I think we all share an insecurity in that way, everybody in show business - the ones I talk to, anyway.

I generally find that comparison is the fast track to unhappiness. No one ever compares themselves to someone else and comes out even. Nine times out of ten, we compare ourselves to people who are somehow better than us and end up feeling more inadequate.

No one leaves the edit room thinking, 'Yeah, I nailed that one!' Everyone I know goes into their first premiere or their first screening thinking, 'I screwed up so bad. I'm sorry, I messed up.' It's just a real common feeling.

All artists have insecurity.

I always think that I'm not going to be right for a movie or that there's someone else who can do it better.

Usually when I see myself in a film or on television, there's about a six-month period where I can't look at it because all I'll see are the mistakes. I'm just appalled by the person that I see.

I was afraid of not living up to what people expected me to be.

Even now, I have traces of the good little girl. When I am not performing, for instance, I am really very quiet and ordinary.

I'm very wary with impressions - I don't think I'm very good at impressions, I hate doing them.

You still get these waves of doubt that come over you, for example, when you get a bad review or you accept a part and think, 'Oh, God, what have I just accepted? I can't do that.' I don't think that's something that will ever go away in me.

I'm not sure I'd hire myself in anything. I certainly couldn't be an actor. That would be terrible. For everyone.

I think most actors are insecure and scared of rejection.